Jim Garrison Quotes

Powerful Jim Garrison for Daily Growth

About Jim Garrison

Jim Garrison (1921-1993) was an American attorney best known for his role in the investigation into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Born on July 6, 1921, in Louisiana, Garrison grew up during the Great Depression and served in the U.S. Army before earning his law degree from Tulane University. Garrison's career as a prosecutor began in 1948 when he was elected District Attorney of Orleans Parish, New Orleans. In this role, he gained a reputation for taking on corrupt political figures and businessmen. This tenacity would later be instrumental in his investigation into the Kennedy assassination. In November 1963, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Five years later, Garrison launched an investigation into the Kennedy assassination, focusing on a local New Orleans businessman named Clay Shaw. Garrison's investigations led him to believe that Shaw was connected to a larger conspiracy involving anti-Kennedy elements within the Central Intelligence Agency and organized crime. Garrison's prosecution of Shaw in 1969, as depicted in the film "JFK," was controversial and ultimately unsuccessful. However, Garrison's work sparked widespread interest in conspiracy theories surrounding the Kennedy assassination and helped bring the issue to national attention. Despite the outcome of the Shaw trial, Garrison continued his investigation until his death in 1993. His book, "On the Trail of the Assassins," published posthumously, further detailed his findings. Jim Garrison's life and work continue to be a subject of debate and fascination, serving as a reminder of the enduring mystery surrounding one of the 20th century's most significant events.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"But it is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."

Jim Garrison's quote emphasizes the collective power of individual acts of courage and conviction in shaping human history. He suggests that every act, no matter how small, serves as a catalyst for hope and change when it stands up for an ideal or strives to improve someone else's life. These individual acts, like ripples in a pond, collectively form a powerful current that can overcome oppressive systems and bring about progress. This quote encourages us to recognize the impact of our own actions and inspire us to take a stand for what we believe in, creating positive change on a larger scale.


"I am certain that after the assassination of President Kennedy on November 22, 1963, our nation has undergone a violent, almost schizophrenic breakdown in the normal processes of political life."

Jim Garrison's quote suggests a profound and disorienting shift in the political landscape of the United States following the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963. The use of "violent, almost schizophrenic" underscores the severity and fragmentation of this change. He implies that the normal flow of political events and decision-making, which is crucial for a functional democracy, was disrupted, leading to chaos and confusion. This quote encapsulates the sense of bewilderment and uncertainty that many people felt in the aftermath of Kennedy's assassination, as they struggled to comprehend this tragic event and its implications for their nation.


"In America, the president is not just an ordinary citizen, but the very personification of the national will. When President Kennedy was killed, that will was torn asunder. The tragedy of Dallas was far more than a murder; it was a massive neurosis in which we are all still immersed."

Jim Garrison's quote emphasizes the symbolic role of the U.S. President, representing the collective national will. He suggests that when John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, it wasn't just an act of violence but a traumatic event that fragmented the nation's identity and psyche. This quote implies that the Kennedy assassination had profound psychological and societal consequences, as if the nation suffered a collective trauma or neurosis from which we have yet to fully recover. The statement underscores the enduring impact of this historical tragedy on the American consciousness.


"The murder of President Kennedy was a Cooper-esque fantasy brought to life on the streets of Dallas by the secret society of the military-industrial complex and its intelligence arm, the Central Intelligence Agency."

This quote suggests that the assassination of John F. Kennedy was not a singular event but rather a conspiracy theory involving a "Cooper-esque fantasy," likely referencing the fictional plots in the works of Robert Louis Stevenson or James Fenimore Cooper. Jim Garrison, the District Attorney who led the investigation into JFK's assassination, believed that the plot was executed by a powerful secret society composed of the military and industrial complex and their intelligence agency, the CIA, in Dallas, Texas. This statement underscores the belief in widespread conspiracies surrounding Kennedy's death and questions the official narrative presented by U.S. authorities at the time.


"I am convinced that Lee Harvey Oswald was trained as an assassin by U.S. Government agencies. The evidence for this conclusion is now overwhelming."

This quote suggests that Jim Garrison, a district attorney who investigated the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, believes that Lee Harvey Oswald, the alleged assassin, was trained by U.S. Government agencies to carry out the assassination. The "overwhelming evidence" he refers to implies a strong body of facts or information supporting this conclusion about government involvement in JFK's assassination. It raises questions and conspiracies regarding the official story of the event and its investigation.


The CIA could not face up to the American people and admit that its former employees had conspired to assassinate the President; so from the moment Kennedy's heart stopped beating, the Agency attempted to sweep the whole conspiracy under the rug.

- Jim Garrison

American, Had, Rug, Beating

I'm afraid, based on my own experience, that fascism will come to America in the name of national security.

- Jim Garrison

Will, My Own, Based, National Security

The grand jury, composed of 12 eminent New Orleans citizens, heard our evidence and indicted the defendant for participation in a conspiracy to assassinate John Kennedy.

- Jim Garrison

New, Jury, Participation, Grand Jury

It's rather naive, apart from being ethically objectionable, to assume that our investigators travel around the country with bags of money trying to bribe witnesses to lie on the witness stand. We just don't operate that way.

- Jim Garrison

Country, Rather, Bags, Investigators

It would certainly be interesting to know what the CIA knew about Oswald six weeks before the assassination, but the contents of this particular message never reached the Warren Commission and remain a complete mystery.

- Jim Garrison

Six, Certainly, Weeks, Oswald

It is important to know who killed Jack Kennedy and why.

- Jim Garrison

Important, Know, Kennedy, Jack

My office has been one of the most scrupulous in the country with regard to the protection of individual rights. I've been on record for years in law journals and books as championing the rights of the individual against the oppressive power of the state.

- Jim Garrison

Country, Been, Oppressive, Championing

All the charges you enumerate have been made with one purpose in mind-to place our office on the defensive and make us waste valuable time answering allegations that have no basis in fact.

- Jim Garrison

Fact, Waste, Been, Answering

I always received much more satisfaction as a defense attorney in obtaining an acquittal for a client than I ever have as a D.A. in obtaining a conviction. All my interests and sympathies tend to be on the side of the individual as opposed to the state.

- Jim Garrison

Always, Side, Sympathies, Attorney

Until as recently as November of 1966, I had complete faith in the Warren Report. Of course, my faith in the Report was grounded in ignorance, since I had never read it.

- Jim Garrison

November, Read, Recently, Warren

I derive no pleasure from prosecuting a man, even though I know he's guilty; do you think I could sleep at night or look at myself in the mirror in the morning if I hounded an innocent man?

- Jim Garrison

Mirror, Think, Though, Derive

I'm convinced from what I know of Vernon Bundy that his testimony was truthful.

- Jim Garrison

Testimony, His, Convinced, Truthful

The head of the CIA, it seems to me, would think long and hard before he admitted that former employees of his had been involved in the murder of the President of the United States-even if they weren't acting on behalf of the Agency when they did it.

- Jim Garrison

United, Been, Before, CIA

It has been my policy not to respond to each of the many canards which have been part of the campaign to discredit my investigation, nor to waste time trying to prove negatives.

- Jim Garrison

Waste, Been, Which, Respond

This kind of charge reveals a good deal about the personality of the people who make it; to impute such motives to another man is to imply you're harboring them yourself.

- Jim Garrison

Deal, Charge, Imply, Another Man

To those who don't want the truth about Kennedy's assassination to become known, the very repetition of a charge lends it a certain credibility, since people have a tendency to believe that where there's smoke, there's fire.

- Jim Garrison

Charge, Very, Lends, Kennedy

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